Emotional Communicability in Improvised Music: The Case of Music Therapists

Authors: Gilboa, Avi; Bodner, Ehud; Amir, Dorit

Journal of Music Therapy, 43.3, (Fall 2006), 198-225

Musical improvisation is considered an efficient way to express emotions in music therapy. The ability of music therapists (MTs) to convey emotions and their ability to accurately decode the emotional content of musical improvisations is examined. Twenty-one MTs improvised on emotions they found difficult or easy to express in life, using or not using an emotional imagery technique. Fifty-five judges, some being MTs and others nontherapists, evaluated the emotional content of the improvisations.